FASTING

INTRODUCTION

The spiritual obligation of fasting is to be found in almost all religions. While Muslims fast once a year during the month of Ramadhan, Hindus fast once a fortnight, and Christians and Buddhists too fast on specially designated days. This is because fasting has a very important spiritual significance. Even those who do not believe in God should, nevertheless, fast for health reasons, since fasting contributes much to the improvement of the individual's health.

However, many of us do not fast owing to a lack of understanding regarding fasting and its good effects. Therefore, given below are some facts on fasting for you to read and ponder over. This article is only a guideline for people in general. Religious people, however, should follow the rules of fasting strictly according to their own religious beliefs and faiths.

GENERAL MISCONCEPTIONS

1. Fasting is not merely abstaining from food, but a means of conserving energy and eliminating waste matter accumulated in the body.
2. The process of digestion and assimilation demand a lot of energy. Fasting for a day overcomes this need, thus conserving energy.
3. Fasting for a day will not weaken a person for want of nourishment, since the body sustains itself on its own energy reserves which are contained in food stocks in the cells, glycogen in the liver and fat deposits in the tissues.
4. Fasting is not starving. Starving begins only when the body has depleted its nutritional reserves.
5. It is a fallacy to think that fasting for a day will weaken a person. On the contrary, it makes a person dynamic and active both physically and mentally.

FASTING TO BE VOLUNTARY

1. An individual should undertake fasting voluntarily and according to one's own free will with a proper understanding of its beneficial effects. Only then, one will be able to enjoy its full benefits.
2. Fasting should not be enforced or imposed by one upon another. The individual upon whom it is imposed will undergo tremendous adverse psychological effects, thus ruining him/her physically and mentally. Therefore, fasting should be encouraged and not forced.

FASTING AND YOGA

1. You may do Yoga exercises lightly on the fasting days, avoiding the strenuous ones. It is not correct to think that one is weak while fasting and therefore one will not be able to do the exercises. Both fasting and Yoga exercises conserve energy, and therefore, by practising both one becomes rejuvenated.
2. Yoga should be done before breaking the fast and not after. One will find it much easier and more flexible to do the exercises before breaking the fast. The benefits of Yogasanas are also multifold when done before.

DURATION OF FASTING

1. Fasting may be undertaken once a fortnight, and the duration of fasting may range from 12 to 24 hours.
2. The fast is launched not from the time the last meal was taken, but when a meal that is to be taken is skipped.
3. The duration of the fast should be fixed by yourself taking into consideration your age, occupation and physical condition.
4. If you have never observed a fast, begin slowly with missing a meal, and later on observe a partial fast and then a 24-hour fast. Do not undertake a complete fast before you get accustomed to partial fasting.

HOW TO FAST

1. When you are fasting, you should forget it so that you do not become obsessed with the thought of food. Your mind should not be upset by the fast and you must be happy about it.
2. Do not spend most of the fasting time resting in bed.
3. During the fasting period, keep yourself mildly active and occupied the whole day with your normal routine. If possible, absorb your attention in reading or creative work, which will make you forget your fast.
4. If you are a religious person, spend your day in prayer, meditation and studying the sacred scriptures belonging to your religious belief or faith, apart from your normal routine. This will fill your heart and mind with supreme peace, bliss and joy. Your stomach also will feel contented and full, and you will not feel hungry or weak.
5. When your digestive machine is not working properly, the appetite is dull, the bowels are clogged, and the tongue coated and you do not feel like eating, forsake food and fast for the day or until the return of hunger. Also, fast or be on liquid diet when you are unwell or having temperature.
6. When a meal is missed, an unpleasant sensation will be felt, but it could soon be got over with some self-discipline, and the appetite will disappear as the body begins to draw on its own reserves to nourish itself.
7. For a partial fast, you may try taking milk, buttermilk, tender coconut water or fresh diluted fruit juices as substitutes for the regular meal, precisely at 'mealtime', besides water in between. This will appease your appetite and help to eliminate waste matter.
8. If you are fasting completely for a day and for health reasons, abstain from food and drink of all kinds and take only plain water, either lukewarm or boiled and cooled to body temperature, avoiding ice. Drink water frequently if you have headache, foul breath, bad taste in the mouth or a tendency towards constipation. Drinking enough water will flush out the system by eliminating waste matter, helping to dissolve and remove toxins from the body, and will also keep the body from becoming dehydrated.
9. Fresh fruits and vegetables taken on the day before the fasting day will aid elimination. Do not worry if there is no bowel movement on the morning of the next day of your fast, and do not use laxatives.
10. Do not feast on the eve of the fast thinking that you need extra energy to carry you through during the fasting period. If you do, you will lose much of the benefit of the fast. Do not also fast one day and overeat the next day to compensate for the food that was not eaten.

BREAKING THE FAST

1. Do not wait for hunger pangs to come back before breaking your fast, since it will return only when refeeding begins.
2. Choose your first food after a fast with care.
3. Break your fast always with liquids. You may sip a glass of freshly squeezed fruit juice, such as the juice of lemon or orange with a little honey at first. Tender coconut water, fresh milk or thin buttermilk may also be taken for terminating a fast. After this liquid feeding, you may take light low-calorie cooked food an hour or two later if you have been fasting for a day.
4. Eat slowly and sparingly after a fast without an overwhelming desire to eat. When you start eating, be careful as regards to both quantity and speed, and never exceed your normal levels.
5. At the end of the fast, introduce only small amounts of food and very slowly build up to the normal intake. Do not take a heavy meal or load the stomach with solid food immediately after a fast since your digestive system needs time to adjust after the absence of food. Otherwise, you may get severe intestinal pain.

CAUTION

1. Children, aged persons, pregnant women, nursing mothers and those who are very much underweight or weak must not fast for extended periods of time. They make take fruits, fruit juices, milk or sweet buttermilk at the call of real hunger during the fasting period.
2. Persons suffering from diabetes, liver problems, poor kidney function, heart disease or duodenal ulcer should not fast.
3. Fasting for more than a day or two at a time is normally not necessary. Prolonged complete fasting will lower vitality and resistance to disease and put your body out of gear. It should be attempted, if at all, only with the blessings of your doctor.
4. Do not abstain totally from food when you are run down in health and your vitality is very low.
5. Do not fast on a day when you have lots of physical activity.
6. Do not fast if you are extremely tired.
7. Do not take tea, coffee, aspirin, alcohol, tranquilizers or drugs during the fast. Avoid also smoking.

BENEFITS OF FASTING

The benefits of short-term fasting at regular intervals are many:

1. Fasting gives a holiday to the overworked stomach and gives rest to the organs of digestion. This in turn improves the power of digestion and assimilation resulting in the rejuvenation of body tissues and cells.
2. As the basal metabolic rate, the pulse rate and blood pressure slow down progressively during the fast, there is less work for the bodily organs and repair work can be carried out.
3. Fasting for a day once in a fortnight will initiate a cleansing process in the system as it helps to remove the accumulated metabolic wastes and toxins in the digestive canal from mouth to anus without the use of purgatives.
4. The bloodstream is cleansed of all impurities.
5. Sticky mucous deposits in the lungs and other vital organs are eliminated.
6. Fasting for short periods will reduce fatty deposits in a corpulent body and makes it brisk, nimble and agile. The body weight becomes normalised, but do not fast merely to reduce weight thinking that fasting is the fastest way to lose body weight.
7. Fasting is a therapeutic tool, which allows the body to build up its defence mechanisms against disease.
8. It will help to cure arthritis and bring down cholesterol levels. Indigestion, dysentery and many stomach disorders could be corrected by fasting and drinking only plain water when needed. The bowels also will get regulated.
9. Fasting will help you to know the real nutritional needs of your body and leads to better eating habits.
10. It will relieve tension of both body and mind.
11. Fasting will sharpen the senses and quicken mental processes.
12. It will also control wild passions and develop will power.
13. Fasting controls the mind thus improving the concentration during prayer and meditation.

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